"I hate the fact that I can't transform into my wolf form like the rest; in some ways, it makes me feel incomplete, like I am missing something. I feel like a mere human," I said to him."Maybe something could be done to retrieve your wolf?" He asks, but I shake my head; nothing could be done. I knew that, and I had accepted it."Now I want to know something about you," I say. There are many things he keeps to himself, things he keeps hidden, and if only he could open up—but then I remembered what had happened the last time he did open up. I took that for granted; I used it against him. Would he ever be willing to do that again?"What do you want to know?""Anything," I say."That's pretty wide," he says. I didn't really think he would give out anything private, but then he began. "You've always wanted to know why I had never gone to my mother's aid, why I left her to Slade.I believed that my father wasn't as bad in the past; maybe I could be wrong, but I do believe my mother had a p
"I had planned to cover up the trails when we were done, and this time she wouldn't be found by my father. I was ready to die protecting her even if she didn't deserve it. We agreed to meet by midnight; Slade would be gone by then. I had a few soldiers loyal to me and not to my father by then.But when I got there, I met Slade waiting in her stead. She had betrayed me again; she had told him about the plan just to get on his good side. She never once stepped in, never once helped; she was grateful to have him furious at someone else rather than her. If only she knew that Slade will never forgive her infidelity and she still pays for it. I had sworn that day to never step in or try to save her; she did make it clear that she did not want to be saved.My father couldn't control me anymore; I rebelled against every single thing he did, and he hated me for that. That's the reason the pack had to be split into two; he wouldn't let go of power even when his reign was over, and I wouldn't le
There's a knock on the door, and I'm awoken from a very peaceful slumber.It was Axel."Why are you here so early?" I questioned"It's actually very late, close to midnight, and you've slept long enough," he says, letting himself in.That's when I noticed something different about him; it was his dressing. Don't get me wrong, Axel was always good-looking and in the right dress, but a white well-fitting dress shirt paired with dark grey chinos was unlike him."Uhmm, was the occasion?""Is a surprise?" he says."I don't like surprises.""Trust me, this one you will like," he says, deliberately imitating Thane."I trust you, so this must be good," I say, heading towards the door."Where are you going?""You said you have a surprise for me?" I questioned, giving him a pointed look."Not dressed like that; you look good, but maybe a bit more effort.""You've never been bothered about my dressing.""You will thank me later for this," he says, and I huff.."The blue is nice; it complements
It was very surprising that they had arranged all these in just a few hours."What is this?" I asked, still in awe of everything."A date between the three of us," Thane answered. "I told you I was going to try make this work.".I had never heard of a date between three people, but this attention... I could get used to this."Nothing like a midnight snack in the middle of the woods," Thane said as Axel dropped me on my feet and I walked forward."How did you plan all these in a matter of hours?" I asked."It will be worth it if you like it.""Of course I love it!""Then that's all that matters.Axel took a seat, and Thane leads me to my seat, being the perfect gentleman by drawing out a seat for me, before having his own seat. I could really get used to this."Hope you are hungry?""I am starving.""Good".It was fun; we all engaged in little chats about very random things, and at this moment I felt like I had known these people all my life."Axel," I called."Huh?""You've never spo
I woke up feeling dizzy.A glass of water was passed to me, and I accepted it not bothering to look at the person who gave me the water, I took a big gulp before realizing something—it wasn't water; it had this strange after- taste to it."Thane?" I called, everything seemed a bit blurry."I am right here; you need to rest.""No. What is this?" I asked, referring to the glass of water that left a bitter taste in the back of my throat."You blacked out earlier; it must be due to your now heightened senses. It would take you some time to adjust to it all. The liquid would help clear the dizziness," Thane says. The liquid worked faster than I expected and I felt very much better immediately."Where am I?""In our room," Thane said, and though I wasn’t looking at him, I knew there was still that annoying smirk on his lips."I'm naked, Thane.""Your dress was utterly ruined by your shift. Too bad, it was really a beautiful piece.""So I did transform... into a wolf?" I questioned; it felt
"Why not another book?, I picked up this other book...""No, I want this book, our favourite.""You are really going to do this to me, Thane?""Yes. That's the plan."He passed me the book, and I held it with shaky hands as he took a seat."What passage do you want to listen to?""You pick," he says.I inhaled, scrolling through the pages of the thick book before stopping randomly on one. My cheeks redden, and I was about to scroll past it."That one, I like that one," Thane says, and I knew he simply wanted me burning red in embarrassment. I could do this.This passage was shorter than most, so I began:"Mr. Cutie wasn't as innocent as I thought him to be when we were in bed. He was going to try a different technique, fisting—he called it. I was a very naughty girl, and so I could make a wild guess, it wouldn’t be my first time getting a fist from a guy but I was soon to find out how pleasurable ‘Cutie’ could make this." I paused. I had read about this ‘act’ from previous passages, Th
I knocked on the door to my mother’s apartment, but there was no response. I had been here for about five minutes now. Was she avoiding me?. I tried the door; only to discover it was unlocked so I pushed it open, walking into her apartment.“Mom?”No response.“Anyone home?”No response.It was very clear that there was nobody in here; maybe she was out working, but her scent seemed a bit... faint, like she hadn’t been in here for a few days, I was slowly getting the hang of my ‘heightened’ senses now, and I could easily note things like this.I frowned, bemused. I searched in the fridge for a drink—anything that would keep me busy, I hated the idea of returning back to my room. I felt so trapped back there. But the fridge was completely empty. Strange.I shrugged off this eerie feeling and walked out of her apartment, shutting the door just as I had found it.A maid had been walking by, and I called to her.“Have you seen my mother lately?” I questioned, and her eyes flew wide.“She i
She took a few moments of hesitation before she finally answered.“Yes. I did just that. I knew that if you weren’t away, somewhere Thane would never find you, then I'll lose him—of course he won’t expect you back at your previous pack, so he would be searching anywhere else. I wanted you as far away from here as possible and that had been the only way to achieve that.”“Why?, Beatrix”“Why!” she called out a bit louder. “You want to know why?” she questioned again. “Because I had been here all along, standing by his side, I had done everything, been everything, just to prove to him that I was fit to be his Luna. I gave my life into this, and I finally thought I was so close to achieving this, but you came in and everything changed, Riley. He went all those miles away, just to get you—a common wolf like you—over me! Over every single able she-wolf in this pack, it feels like an insult, a fucking slap on the face.”“You are not his mate; I am. What is your problem?”“My problem is that
THANEI never did tell Riley about Axel. He wouldn’t have wanted me to; he would have wanted her to move on. She was dealing with a lot, but I was going to stand by her through it all.She didn’t like me watching her drinking blood; if only she knew I found it… sexy..I stood before over twenty Alphas, many of whom had frowns on their faces. I had to tell them the truth and try to make peace with them.“Thank you all for coming. I am glad to see you all well.I had gathered you here to address an issue, in which some of you had no clue about.”I went ahead to inform them that there had indeed been a demon ruling in my place; I didn’t go deep into that. Despite everything, I still owed Daemon big time. I explained our plight with the Demon Overlord and how he is being held down now. By the time I was done, I noticed the change, the way they stared at Riley with an eye of respect. I guess they were finally adding the dots.“All of the previous rules made will be canceled.” I informed
RILEYI remembered it all. The feeling of the dagger tearing through me, the pain so unbearable I became numb. Thane's pleads. I had died… but I was awoken a demon.Nothing was the same.I stood in front of the mirror staring at myself. My hair, my eyes, my skin—nothing was the same. A maid came in with a tray of food. “Luna.” She called, giving a low bow. I settled on the couch, taking a plate and filling it up with food. Even this smelled different. I put a spoon filled with rice into my mouth; I spit it out immediately.“What is this?”“Rice and soup, Luna.” She said, panic written on her face.It didn’t taste right, and that wasn’t because it was wrongly cooked but because I had a different food preference now that I was a full demon. I didn’t want to live on only blood like Daemon; I wanted to be normal, or at least try to be.“I feel a bit sick; that should be the reason the food tasted different.”“Would you like anything else? Perhaps another meal?”“No, I have no appetite
..Many believe the Azure Grounds hold some kind of magical energy; perhaps that’s why warlocks, witches, and the likes come here.I spotted Jade, and I headed straight to her.She took Riley from me and placed her on the ground. She checked her pulse.“She is dead.” Jade says to me.“I know that. But there must be something you can do.”“To wake the dead? There is nothing I can do.”“Riley cannot die... You have to do something.”“There is no life force in her; I could have done something, but it is too late. Nothing can be done. Take her back to the pack and give her a befitting burial; that’s all you can do.”I grasp her by the throat, her eyes widened, panicked.“You told me to bring her here; why?”“I—I thought—she still had a chance. Look at her—she is paler than snow.”“Alpha.” Daemon called from behind me. “Killing her wouldn’t do you any good.” He says, and I let Jade go. “But there is a way to bring her back to life, turn her into a demon.” Daemon says to Jade.“I could have
THANEMy eyes locked on Riley, and I sprinted toward her with every ounce of strength I had left. Then I spotted Bella—her hand raised, a dagger in her grip. No one had noticed her until the blade was in the air.Everything seemed to slow as I watched in horror. The dagger struck its mark before I could get to her, embedding itself deep in Riley's chest. It pierced through her heart, the blade tip jutting out. Riley staggered, her eyes wide with shock, and my breath caught in my throat.Daemon snarled, picking Bella up like she weighed nothing; he bit into her neck. But a smile remained on her face.“I accept your rejection.” Her mouth formed the words right before Daemon tore her head off her shoulders.Blood dribbled from her mouth“Thane…”“I’m here.” I said to her.“Ethan… he is… find him...” she coughed. “Am I dying?” she asked, and I shook my head.“No, no, you aren’t…”“You—you are finally free.” She muttered before her eyes shut and she stopped moving.“No, please, Riley, don
Despite making it clear that I wanted him gone, he easily pushed past me and walked into my room. I slammed the door a bit too hard.“What! What is it you want to talk about?”“Would you listen?”“Well, you didn’t give me an option now, did you?”“Once you spoke about the both of us, leaving the pack behind and going far away… I couldn’t do that because of Vox, but with him gone…”“No.”“What do you mean, ‘no’?”“It is exactly what you think. I will not go anywhere with you.”“So you had said that only to… fool me?” he asked, the hurt clear in his eyes.“That had been why you didn’t aid Vox, hadn’t it? Because you believed that if he was dead, then there would be nothing in the way.” I asked, and his silence confirmed it.“I should have known. As long as Thane lives, there will be no space for another.” He said, and his eyes… They held a promise. He turned, heading for the door, but I blocked him.“You will not harm Thane.”“Of course.” He said, a smirk on his face. “I won’t.”I slamm
Bruce watched Jade; her eyes trailed to the amulet in his hands.“So what will it be now, Jade?”“I’ll have the Jewel back.”“I can’t give it to you; I have made a bargain with Vox. The life of my daughter, the queen, will be at risk if I do not have this at the time of Vox's return.” “There has to be another way.”“There is no other way.”“Then I’m sorry.” Jade says. It wasn’t wise to make an enemy of the sorceress, but he had made a promise to Riley; she would be disappointed if he failed her.He closed his eyes and muttered a spell. He didn’t want to hurt the sorceress, but he wanted her out of the way. The spell would only make her fall into a deep slumber; the moment this was over, she would awaken.He opened his eyes, only to see Jade unfazed. “I came prepared; I knew you wouldn’t be willing to give it up so easily.”The warlock didn’t expect the kick Jade had sent at him; she was never a physical person. She got him hard in the kneecap, and he had let go of the amulet, she us
“You must have thought me stupid. Do you for one moment think I didn’t have a backup?I might have had high hopes that you didn’t kill Ralph, but I was no fool; I know who you are and what you are good at. You don’t keep to your words, and so I made sure I was protected. There is a reason I have lived for so many years.” Jade says, the smile remained on her face, “I know how to stay alive.”Her eyes glowed.“I will send you to the otherworld, where you belong.”“No! Daemon, kill them all!” he commanded, but Daemon didn’t move an inch.“I did warn you; you are setting yourself up for destruction. You didn’t listen; you brought it upon yourself.”“I will return, I promise you… and when I do, every one of you will pay!” His words held a promise.“And how long will that take?” Daemon asked. “A century? Two? Three?” “The tendrils… They stop him from using any of his powers.” Jade explains, “Even Nexus herself has her favorites, and it turns out… you aren't one of her favorites.”Jade’s ey
RILEY’S POVBruce had pleaded with me to trust him. I wish I could; I wish his words were enough. But Seeing was believing. Still, I had no other choice; there was no way around it. It was either I play along, or I let Vox know that the amulet wasn’t in my keep—that would lead to my death or a punishment ‘much worse than death.’We had only a few hours left.A few hours, and Vox would be here, right outside Bruce's house. This decision was going to determine ‘everything.’. I tried to keep calm; I had to put on my big girl’s panties. Fear was no good in times like this; it didn’t let people think straight. I was a queen; it was time I showed it.Too soon, the time was up. Three days was spent.Vox was right on time, with Daemon by his side.I and Bruce stood by the doorway of his building.“We meet again, young warlock.” Vox says to Bruce.“Has the Demon Overlord decided that I have suffered enough for my crimes?”“No punishment would ever be adequate for the atrocities you committed.
I finally snapped back to my senses and joined him, placing my feet over Logan's chest to keep him from moving. Axel thrust the sword into his heart and twisted. “Now look who won’t be seeing the light of day.” I said to him as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. I turned to Axel, still astonished. “The warlock had opened the portal. I don’t know how I managed to get here, but I don’t have much time. I can feel it—the portal is about to shut.” Axel said. “Thank you.” I said to him, accepting the sword from his hands. “I can’t believe even in death, I’m still saving your ass; you need to give me a raise or something.” He demanded. The smile faded from his face almost instantly. “Riley—what about Riley? Did she survive?” “Yes, she did, and we have a child… His name is Ethan.” “Let me guess, you came up with the name?” “It was a joint contribution, but… yeah, I did.” “Make sense; Ethan is clearly a rewrite of your name, Thane.” “I didn’t have that in mind.” “Yeah, yeah